Pneumatic fire-extinguisher



(No Model.)

W, SELLERS PNEUMATIC FIRE BXTINGUISHEM No. 269,965. 4 PatentedJan.2,1883.

Fif 32 2:

Inventor:

N. PETERS. Pnm umn m u wmlinmm D .NITED STATES PATENT OFFIcE.

WILLIAM SELLERS,OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

PNEUMATIQw FIREQEXTINGUISHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 269,965, dated January 2, 1883.

i Application filed April 3, 1882. (N model.)

the city and county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Pneumatic Fire- Extinguishers, of which improvement the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of fire-extinguishers in which water is confined within a portable apparatus under pressure from air within the same apparatus, the elasticity of the air supplying the means for expelling the water with the required velocity.

'lo proportion the relative charges of air and water under pressure in such portable apparatus so that the air will expel all the Water with the required velocity, such apparatus, as heretofore con structed,have been provided with interior automatic appliances, or. with interior appliances operated through the side of the water-chain her, which determined the relative volumes of air and water under pressure, and to accomplish this and at the same time provide for charging and dischargingflwo or more openings into the water-chamber have been requisite as part of the apparatus. These openings required fittings which could be opened and closed as demanded for the charging and discharging operations; and as such fire-extinguishers, to be most serviceable, should be stored, charged, and ready for use, it is of the highest importance that these fittings, when closed, should be absolutely tight, so as to prevent the escape of any fluid, and the consequent loss of pressure, whereby the apparatus might be rendered useless when its service would be most important. It is very desirable, therefore, that the number of openings into the water-chamber should be as few as possible, so that the liability to such accident may he reduced to a minimum.

It is the object of my improvement to simplify the construction of fire-extinguishers by discarding all of the apparatus within the vessel heretolore required to determine the vol- 11 mes of air and water under pressure, and sub stilnting an apparatus outside the vessel which at all times indicates the conditions of they charge and subserves all the requirements of In the accompanying drawings, which fornr part of this specification, Figure 1 represents an elevation of my portable fire-extinguisher apparatus, partly in section; Fig. 2, a sideelevation of the force pump wherewith the apparatus is charged with air and water; Fig.3, a. sectional elevation of the faucet through which the apparatus is charged and discharged, and showing the connection to the pressure-gage therewith; andFig. 4, a horizontal cross-section of this faucet.

In all the drawings similar letters refer to similar parts.

TheportablevesselAismadeoftough,strong metal, preferably copper or brass, and capable of containing with safety air and water under a pressure of one hundred and fifty pounds per square inch. It is provided with logs on the outside, a a a or, (shown in dotted lines.) through which straps or hands may be passed, whereby it may be more conveniently carried from placeto place. It is provided with a single opening, f, throughwhich it is charged and discharged, as hereinafter explained. To this openingf, I fit the faucet B, containing a three-way plug, 6, which, when turned open, gives free accessto the interior of the vessel through the opening], and to discharge the water to the lowest point in the vessel, when the vessel is perpendicular, I propose to extend a pipe, 01, from the faucet to said point in the vessel. The upper end of the plug e is provided with a square section, upon which is fitted a handle for operating the same, and above the handle I mount upon-the plug 6 a pressuregage, H, of the usual construction, which commnnicates with the three Ways in the faucet and with the interior of the vessel through a small hole in the axis of the plug, as shown in Fig. 3, so that when the faucet B is open the pressure-gage is actuated by the varying press- I provide a union, 0, by which a dischargingnozzle, 1), is secured to this pipe.

The pump for charging the apparatus is shown in Fig. 2. It is double acting, and the arrangement of piston rod or plunger, valves, and discharging-chamberis the same as shown and described in my application for a patent for an improvement in pumps, filed February 27, 1882, series of 1880, No. 53,777; but any form of force-pump that will workagains't a pressure of one hundred and fifty pounds per square inch, and which has the requisite attachments for the flexible pipes hereinafter described, would answer my purpose. The discharging-chamber ofthis pump is shown at l), and it is provided with a nozzle, to which the flexible pipe 0 may be attached by meansof the union 0, for which purpose the dischargingnozzle 1) must be first removed. The foot-valve chamber is shown at E. and itis provided with a nozzle, to which the flexibleinlet'pipe B may be firmly secured in the ordinary way. This inlet-pipe may receive its supply from any convenient source; but in the drawings it is represented as taking water from the bucket G. In many cases it may be more convenient to provide a union upon the outer end of this pipe, whereby it may be conveniently attached to a water-supply under pressure, and 1 propose to avail myself of this arrangement where the circumstances favor it-as, for example, when the water alone has been discharged from the vessetA. v

To charge the apparatus I remove the discharging-nozzle b from the end of the pipe 0 and attach this end of the pipe to the discharging-chamber D, as shown by the full lines upon the drawings, and turn the plug in the faucet B open. Then if the pump-valves are not perfectly air-tight-and with metal valves this is often the case-insert the end of the flexible pipe F in the water in the bucket G and pump one or twostrokes, sufficient to flood the valves in the pump; then remove the pipe F from the water and continue pumping with the end of this pipe in the air until the pressure of air in the apparatus indicates fifteen pounds upon the pressure-gage; then reinsert the end of the flexible pipe F in the water and continue pumping until the gage indicates one hundred and fifty pounds. The apparatus is then fully charged. Turn the plug in the faucet B shut, disconnect thepipe 0 from the chamber D,

and replace the discharging-nozzle b. The apparatus is then ready for use. It is evident that the same pump is capable of charging any number ofsuch apparatus, and as the pressare-gage, which indicates the relative proportions of air and water in the charge, is always in connection with the interior of the vessel A, whether the plug in the faucet B is open or shut, its indications are always a faithful exhibit of the pressure in the vessel, and consequently as to its condition for service. By this method of charging the apparatus described the charge of air is forced into the vessel under so low a pressure that an ordinary pump is capable of performing the work, and following this charge of air with the charge of water through the same pump will further compress the air to the tension requisite for expelling the water with the desired force, so that the process of charging andthe apparatus charged are alike reduced to the simplest elements.

Having thus described the object and nature of my irwentiomwhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- The combination, in a portable pneumatic fire-extinguisher provided with a single opening, of a faucet through which the vessel is charged and discharged, at flexible pipe, and a pressure-gage, the combination being and operating substantially as described, and so that the gage indicates the relative quantities of air and water in the vessel as well during the charging operation as after its completion.

WM. SELLERS.

Witnesses:

DANL. B. ELY, CHAS. M. MILLER. 

